Work in progress to upgrade facilities at Navy base in Bahrain

A two story $24 million facility on Naval Support Activity Bahrain, known as P-9-11, houses the Navy Exchange, food court, gym, and other recreational services. Renovations are underway to modernize some facilities.

Morale, Welfare and Recreation anticipates spending about $450,000 to replace the club’s floor, to create a new DJ setup and to install new sound and lighting equipment.

“If you look at it now, it’s sterile, it’s uninviting, it’s not a club,” said Mark Richards, base MWR director.

There are also plans to renovate the kitchen in P-9-11, to expand the barber and beauty shop, and to increase the floor space on the Navy Exchange’s first floor, where groceries and household goods are sold.

The kitchen, which currently serves about 5,500 meals a day, has trouble accommodating diners during aircraft carrier visits. The barber and beauty shop has also been pushed to capacity — because of both the bigger base population and increased demand for spa services, said Patrina Jordan, Bahrain NEX general manager.

Elsewhere on base, MWR has finished refurbishing the bowling alley and is currently renovating the base training pool. It also plans to improve the Liberty Center and to renovate the base playground.

Officials expect the U.S. military presence in Bahrain to continue well into the future. The Navy base, which now occupies about 137 acres, is in the midst of a $260 million expansion to increase capacity to allow for the possible homeporting of littoral combat ships in 2018. This spring, two more U.S. Coastal Patrol ships are expected to homeport at the U.S. naval base in Bahrain.